1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle wash mitter assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle wash mitter assembly that provides increased coverage for the top of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
The manufacture, sale, and operation of automotive vehicle washing equipment is big business in the United States and many other countries. The term “automotive vehicle washing”, as used herein, refers to wet washing the external surfaces of virtually any type of vehicle from ordinary passenger cars to busses, trucks, vans and even train cars and airplanes.
In the early days, automotive vehicles were washed by hand. The service people who performed this task commercially were equipped with large, spongy mittens or mitts with which they scrubbed the vehicle. As time went on, and mechanized units took over the functions of such personnel, the mechanized units were named “Mitters” because of the analogy of function to the prior manual process.
Such units now are widely employed commercially in various styles and operating designs. Almost universally, they employ a plurality of “mitter curtains” consisting of a wide length of carpeting, heavy fabric, chamois or a plastic material divided into long strips and applied to the vehicle to be washed with a reciprocating or oscillating motion. Although widely used, because of the diversity of the vehicles to which they are applied, the speed with which they are operated, and their reciprocating or oscillating motion, they still suffer from various problems.
While existing “mitter curtains”, many of which have different configurations, provide satisfactory performance, they suffer from various disadvantages. One problem attendant to most existing mitter curtains having a pair of side-by-side units is that a gap or space exists between the units, which results in an area of the exterior of the vehicle that is not treated. This area is known in the industry as a “skunk stripe”.